Richard F. Burton

The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah,
when Sa’idah warned him and blessed him and went her ways,
passed the rest of the night with his brothers and on the morrow,
he sent them to the Hammam and clad each of them, on his coming
forth, in a suit worth a hoard of money. Then he called for the
tray of food and they set it before him and he ate, he and his
brothers. When his attendants saw the twain and knew them for his
brothers they saluted them and said to him, “O our lord,
Allah give thee joy of thy reunion with thy dear brothers! Where
have they been this while?” He replied, “It was they
whom ye saw in the guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath
delivered them from prison and grievous torment!” Then he
carried them to the Divan of the Caliph and kissing ground before
Al–Rashid wished him continuance of honour and fortune and
surcease of evil and enmity. Quoth the Caliph, “Welcome, O
Emir Abdullah! Tell me what hath befallen thee.” And quoth
he, “O Commander of the Faithful (whose power Allah
increase!) when I carried my brothers home to my lodging, my heart
was at rest concerning them, because thou hadst pledged thyself to
their release and I said in myself, ‘Kings fail not to attain
aught for which they strain, inasmuch as the divine favour aideth
them.’ So I took off the collars from their necks, putting my
trust in Allah, and ate with them from the same tray, which when my
suite saw, they made light of my wit and said each to other,
‘He is surely mad! How can the governor of Bassorah who is
greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?’ Then they threw away
what was in the tray, saying, ‘We will not eat the
dogs’ orts.’ And they went on to befool my reason,
whilst I heard their words, but returned them no reply because of
their unknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour of
sleep came, I sent them away and addressed myself to sleep; but,
ere I was ware, the earth clave in sunder and out came
Sa’idah, the Red King’s daughter, enraged against me,
with eyes like fire.” And he went on to relate to the Caliph
all what had passed between him and her and her father and how she
had transmewed his brothers from canine to human form, adding,
“And here they are before thee, O Commander of the
Faithful!” The Caliph looked at them and seeing two young men
like moons, said, “Allah requite thee for me with good, O
Abdullah, for that thou hast acquainted me with an
advantage546 I knew not! Henceforth, Inshallah, I
will never leave to pray these two-bow orisons before the breaking
of the dawn, what while I live.” Then he reproved
Abdullah’s brothers for their past transgressions against him
and they excused themselves before the Caliph, who said,
“Join hands547 and forgive one another and Allah
pardon what is past!” Upon which he turned to Abdullah and
said to him, “O Abdullah, make thy brothers thine assistants
and be careful of them.” Then he charged them to be obedient
to their brother and bade them return to Bassorah after he had
bestowed on them abundant largesse. So they went down from the
Caliph’s Divan whilst he rejoiced in this advantage he had
obtained by the action aforesaid, to wit, persistence in praying
two inclinations before dawn, and exclaimed, “He spake truth
who said, ‘The misfortune of one tribe fortuneth another
tribe.’”548 On this wise befel it to them from the
Caliph; but as regards Abdullah, he left Baghdad carrying with him
his brothers in all honour and dignity and increase of quality, and
fared on till they drew near Bassorah, when the notables and chief
men of the place came out to meet them and after decorating the
city brought them thereinto with a procession which had not its
match and all the folk shouted out blessings on Abdullah as he
scattered amongst them silver and gold. None, however, took heed to
his brothers; wherefore jealousy and envy entered their hearts, for
all he entreated them tenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye;
but the more he cherished them, the more they redoubled in hatred
and envy of him: and indeed it is said on the subject,

“I’d win good will of every one, but whoso envies
me
Will not be won on any wise and makes mine office hard:
How gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good,
When naught will satisfy him save to see my good go
marr’d?”

Then he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs
and servants and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He
also gave each of them fifty steeds all thoroughbreds and they got
them guards and followers; and he assigned to them revenues and
appointed them solde and stipends and made them his assistants,
saying to them, “O my brothers, I and you are equal and there
is no distinction between me and you twain,”—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.

546 i.e. the power
acquired (as we afterwards learn) by the regular praying of the
dawn-prayer. It is not often that The Nights condescend to point a
moral or inculcate a lesson as here; and we are truly thankful for
the immunity.

547 Arab.
“Musáfahah” which, I have said, serves for our shaking
hands: and extends over wide regions. They apply the palms of the
right hands flat to each other without squeezing the fingers and
then raise the latter to the forehead. Pilgrimage ii. 332, has also
been quoted.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Abdullah assigned stipends to his brothers and made them his
assistants, saying, “O my brothers, I and you are equal and
there is no distinction between me and you twain, and after Allah
and the Caliph, the commandment is mine and yours. So rule you at
Bassorah in my absence and in my presence, and your commandments
shall be effectual; but look that ye fear Allah in your ordinances
and beware of oppression, which if it endure depopulateth; and
apply yourselves to justice, for justice, if it be prolonged,
peopleth a land. Oppress not the True Believers, or they will curse
you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph, wherefore
dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore about to
violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of the folk,
take it from my goods, over and above that whereof ye have need;
for ’tis not unknown to you what is handed down in the Koran
of prohibition versets on the subject of oppression and
Allah-gifted is he who said these couplets,

‘Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man
Whom naught withholdeth
save the lack of might:
The sage shall ne’er apply his wits to aught
Until befitting
time direct his sight:
The tongue of wisdom woneth in the heart;
And in his mouth the
tongue of foolish wight.
Who at occasion’s call lacks power to rise
Is slain by feeblest
who would glut his spite.
A man may hide his blood and breed, but aye
His deeds on darkest hiddens cast a light.
Wights of ill strain with ancestry as vile
Have lips which never spake one word aright:
And who committeth case to hands of fool
In folly proveth self
as fond and light;
And who his secret tells to folk at large
Shall rouse his foes
to work him worst despight.
Suffice the generous what regards his lot
Nor meddles he with aught regards him not’”

And he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity
and forbid them from tyranny, doubting not but they would love him
the better for his boon of good counsel549 and he relied upon them
and honoured them with the utmost honour; but notwithstanding all
his generosity to them, they only waxed in envy and hatred of him,
till, one day, the two being together alone, quoth Nasir to Mansur,
“O my brother, how long shall we be mere subjects of our
brother Abdullah, and he in this estate of lordship and worship?
After being a merchant, he is become an Emir, and from being
little, he is grown great: but we, we grow not great nor is there
aught of respect or degree left us; for, behold, he laugheth at us
and maketh us his assistants! What is the meaning of this? Is it
not that we are his servants and under his subjection? But, long as
he abideth in good case, our rank will never be raised nor shall we
be aught of repute; wherefore we shall not fulfil our wish, except
we slay him and win to his wealth, nor will it be possible to get
his gear save after his death. So, when we have slain him, we shall
become lords and will take all that is in his treasuries of gems
and things of price and divide them between us. Then will we send
the Caliph a present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and
thou shalt be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us
shall have formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect
this, except we put him out of the world!” Answered Mansur,
“Thou sayest sooth, but how shall we do to kill him?”
Quoth Nasir, “We will make an entertainment in the house of
one of us and invite him thereto and serve him with the uttermost
service. Then will we sit through the night with him in talk and
tell him tales and jests and rare stories till his heart melteth
with sitting up when we will spread him a bed, that he may lie down
to sleep. When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle
him and throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say,
‘His sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with
us, and said to him, ‘O thou scum of mankind, who art thou
that thou shouldst complain of me to the Commander of the Faithful?
Deemest thou that we dread him? As he is a King, so we too are
Kings, and if he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him
die by the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will slay thee, that
we may see what the hand of the Prince of True Believers availeth
to do.’ So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and
disappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we
revived and we reck not what is become of him.’ And saying
this we will send to the Caliph and tell him the case and he will
invest us with the government in his room. After awhile, we will
send him a sumptuous present and seek of him the government of
Cufah, and one of us shall abide in Bassorah and the other in
Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant to us and we will be down upon
the True Believers and win our wishes.” And quoth Mansur,
“Thou counsellest well, O my brother,” and they agreed
upon the murther. So Nasir made an entertainment and said to
Abdullah, “O my brother, verily I am thy brother, and I would
have thee hearten my heart thou and my brother Mansur and eat of my
banquet in my house, so I may boast of thee and that it may be
said, The Emir Abdullah hath eaten of his brother Nasir’s
guest meal; when my heart will be solaced by this best of
boons.” Abdullah replied, “So be it, O my brother;
there is no distinction between me and thee and thy house is my
house; but since thou invitest me, none refuseth hospitality save
the churl.” Then he turned to Mansur and said to him,
“Wilt thou go with me to thy brother Nasir’s house and
we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?” Replied Mansur,
“As thy head liveth, O my brother, I will not go with thee,
unless thou swear to me that, after thou comest forth of brother
Nasir’s house, thou wilt enter my house and eat of my
banquet! Is Nasir thy brother and am not I thy brother? So, even as
thou heartenest his heart, do thou hearten mine.” Answered
Abdullah, “There is no harm in that: with love and gladly
gree! When I come out from Nasir’s house, I will enter thine,
for thou art my brother even as he.” So he kissed his hand
and going forth of the Divan, made ready his feast. On the morrow,
Abdullah took horse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a
company of his officers, to Nasir’s house, where they sat
down, he and Mansur and his many. Then Nasir set the trays before
them and welcomed them; so they ate and drank and sat in mirth and
merriment; after which the trays and the platters were removed and
they washed their hands. They passed the day in feasting and
wine-drinking and diversion and delight till night-fall, when they
supped and prayed the sundown prayers, and the night orisons; after
which they sat conversing and carousing, and Nasir and Mansur fell
to telling stories whilst Abdullah hearkened. Now they three were
alone in the pavilion, the rest of the company being in another
place, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and rare
adventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah’s heart was dissolved
within him for watching and sleep overcame him.—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Abdullah was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they also
lay beside him on another couch and waited till he wasdrowned in
slumber and when they were certified thereof they arose and knelt
upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing them kneeling on his
breast, said to them, “What is this, O my brothers?”
Cried they, “We are no brothers of thine, nor do we know thee
unmannerly that thou art! Thy death is become better than thy
life.” Then they gripped him by the throat and throttled him,
till he lost his senses and abode without motion; so that they
deemed him dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were overlooked the
river; so they cast him into the water; but, when he fell, Allah
sent to his aid a dolphin550 who was accustomed to come under that
pavilion because the kitchen had a window that gave upon the
stream; and, as often as they slaughtered any beast there, it was
their wont to throw the refuse into the river and the dolphin came
and picked it up from the surface of the water; wherefore he ever
resorted to the place. That day they had cast out much offal by
reason of the banquet; so the dolphin ate more than of wont and
gained strength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah’s fall, he
hastened to the spot, where he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided
him so that he took the man on his back and crossing the current
made with him for the other bank, where he cast his burthen ashore.
Now the place where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a well-beaten
highway, and presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on
the river bank, said, “Here is a drowned man, whom the river
hath cast up;” and the travellers gathered around to gaze at
the corpse. The Shaykh of the caravan was a man of worth, skilled
in all sciences and versed in the mystery of medicine and, withal,
sound of judgment: so he said to them, “O folk, what is the
news?” They answered, “Here is a drowned man;”
whereupon he went up to Abdullah and examining him, said to them,
“O folk, there is life yet in this young man, who is a person
of condition and of the sons of the great, bred in honour and
fortune, and Inshallah there is still hope of him.” Then he
took him and clothing him in dry clothes warmed him before the
fire; after which he nursed him and tended him three days’
march till he revived; but he was passing feeble by reason of the
shock, and the chief of the caravan proceeded to medicine him with
such simples as he knew, what while they ceased not faring on till
they had travelled thirty days’ journey from Bassorah and
came to a city in the land of the Persians, by name
‘Aúj.551 Here they alighted at a Khan and spread
Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night and troubling the
folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed the concierge of
the Khan came to the chief of the caravan and said to him,
“What is this sick man thou hast with thee? Verily, he
disturbeth us.” Quoth the chief, “I found him by the
way, on the river-bank and well nigh drowned; and I have tended
him, but to no effect, for he recovereth not.” Said the
porter, “Show him to the Shaykhah552 Rájihah.”
“Who is this Religious?” asked the chief of the
caravan, and the door-keeper answered, “There is with us a
holy woman, a clean maid and a comely, called Rajihah, to whom they
present whoso hath any ailment; and he passeth a single night in
her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and ailing
nothing.” Quoth the chief, “Direct me to her;”
quoth the porter, “Take up thy sick man.” So he and
took up Abdullah and the doorkeeper forewent him, till he came to a
hermitage, where he saw folk entering with many an ex voto offering
and other folk coming forth, rejoicing. The porter went in, till he
came to the curtain,553 and said, “Permission, O Shaykhah
Rajihah! Take this sick man.” Said she, “Bring him
within the curtain;” and the porter said to Abdullah,
“Enter.” So he entered and looking upon the holy woman,
saw her to be his wife whom he had brought from the City of Stone.
And when he knew her she also knew him and saluted him and he
returned her salam. Then said he, “Who brought thee
hither?”; and she answered, “When I saw that thy
brothers had cast thee away and were contending concerning me, I
threw myself into the sea; but my Shaykh Al–Khizr Abu
al-‘Abbás took me up and brought me to this hermitage, where
he gave me leave to heal the sick and bade cry in the city,
‘Whoso hath any ailment, let him repair to the Shaykhah
Rajihah;’ and he also said to me, ‘Tarry in this
hermitage till the time betide, and thy husband shall come to thee
here.’ So all the sick used to flock to me and I rubbed them
and shampoo’d them and they awoke on the morrow whole and
sound; whereby the report of me became noised abroad among the
folk, and they brought me votive gifts, so that I have with me
abundant wealth. And now I live here in high honour and worship,
and all the people of these parts seek my prayers.” Then she
rubbed him and by the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he became
whole. Now Al–Khizr used to come to her every Friday night,
and it chanced that the day of Abdullah’s coming was a
Thursday.554 Accordingly, when the night darkened he
and she sat, after a supper of the richest meats, awaiting the
coming of Al–Khizr, who made his appearance anon and carrying
them forth of the hermitage, set them down in Abdullah’s
palace at Bassorah, where he left them and went his way. As soon as
it was day, Abdullah examined the palace and knew it for his own;
then, hearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the
lattice and saw his brothers crucified, each on his own cross. Now
the reason of this was as ensueth. When they had thrown him into
the Tigris, the twain arose on the morrow, weeping and saying,
“Our brother! the Jinniyah hath carried off our
brother!” Then they made ready a present and sent it to the
Caliph, acquainting him with these tidings and suing from him the
government of Bassorah. He sent for them and questioned them and
they told him the false tale we have recounted, whereupon he was
exceeding wroth.555 So that night he prayed a two-bow
prayer before daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes
of the Jinn, who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned
them of Abdullah: when they sware to him that none of them had done
him aught of hurt and said, “We know not what is become of
him.” Then came Sa’idah, daughter of the Red King, and
acquainted the Caliph with the truth of Abdullah’s case, and
he dismissed the Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and Mansur
to the bastinado till they confessed, one against other: whereupon
the Caliph was enraged with them and cried, “Carry them to
Bassorah and crucify them there before Abdullah’s
palace.” Such was their case; but as regards Abdullah, when
he saw his brothers crucified, he commanded to bury them, then took
horse and repairing to Baghdad, acquainted the Caliph with that
which his brothers had done with him, from first to last and told
him how he had recovered his wife; whereat Al–Rashid
marvelled and summoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw up
the marriage-contract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had
brought from the City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with
her at Bassorah till there came to them the Destroyer of delights
and the Severer of societies; and extolled be the perfection of the
Living, who dieth not! Moreover, O auspicious King, I have heard a
tale anent

550 Arab.
“Dárfíl”=the Gr. {Greek} later {Greek}, suggesting that
the writer had read of Arion in Herodotus i. 23.

551 ‘Aúj; I
can only suggest, with due diffidence, that this is intended for
Kúch the well-known Baloch city in Persian Carmania (Kirmán) and
meant by Richardson’s “Koch ü buloch.” But as the
writer borrows so much from Al–Mas’udi it may possibly
be Aúk in Sístán where stood the heretical city
“Shádrak,” chapt. cxxii.

552 i.e. The
excellent (or surpassing) Religious. Shaykhah, the fem. of Shaykh,
is a she-chief, even the head of the dancing-girls will be entitled
“Shaykhah.”

553 The curtain
would screen her from the sight of men-invalids and probably hung
across the single room of the “Záwiyah” or
hermit’s cell. The curtain is noticed in the tales of two
other reverend women; vols. iv. 155 and v. 257.

554 Abdullah met
his wife on Thursday, the night of which would amongst Moslems be
Friday night.

Ma’aruf the Cobbler and his Wife

There dwelt once upon a time in the God-guarded city of Cairo a
cobbler who lived by patching old shoes.1 His name was
Ma’aruf2 and he had a wife called Fatimah, whom
the folk had nicknamed “The Dung;”3 for that she was a whorish,
worthless wretch, scanty of shame and mickle of mischief. She ruled
her spouse and abused him; and he feared her malice and dreaded her
misdoings; for that he was a sensible man but poor-conditioned.
When he earned much, he spent it on her, and when he gained little,
she revenged herself on his body that night, leaving him no peace
and making his night black as her book;4 for she was even as of one
like her saith the poet:—

How manifold nights have I passed with my wife
In the saddest
plight with all misery rife:
Would Heaven when first I went in to her
With a cup of cold poison I’d ta’en her life.

One day she said to him, “O Ma’aruf, I wish thee to
bring me this night a vermicelli-cake dressed with bees’
honey.”5 He replied, “So Allah Almighty aid
me to its price, I will bring it thee. By Allah, I have no dirhams
to-day, but our Lord will make things easy.”6 Rejoined she,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.

1 Arab.
“Zarábín” (pl. of zarbún), lit. slaves’ shoes or
sandals (see vol. iii. p. 336) the chaussure worn by Mamelukes.
Here the word is used in its modern sense of stout shoes or walking
boots.

3 Dozy translates
“‘Urrah”=Une Mégère: Lane terms it a
“vulgar word signifying a wicked, mischievous shrew.”
But it is the fem. form of ‘Urr=dung; not a bad name for a
daughter of Billingsgate.

4 i.e. black like
the book of her actions which would be shown to her on
Doomsday.

5 The
“Kunáfah” (vermicelli-cake) is a favourite dish of
wheaten flour, worked somewhat finer than our vermicelli, fried
with samn (butter melted and clarified) and sweetened with honey or
sugar. See vol. v. 300.

6 i.e. Will send us
aid. The Shrew’s rejoinder is highly impious in Moslem
opinion.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Ninetieth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Ma’aruf the Cobbler said to his spouse, “By Allah, I
have no dirhams to-day, but our Lord will make things easy to
me!” She rejoined, “I wot naught of these words; look
thou come not to me save with the vermicelli and bees’ honey;
else will I make thy night black as thy fortune whenas thou fellest
into my hand.” Quoth he, “Allah is bountiful!”
and going out with grief scattering itself from his body, prayed
the dawn-prayer and opened his shop. After which he sat till noon,
but no work came to him and his fear of his wife redoubled. Then he
arose and went out perplexed as to how he should do in the matter
of the vermicelli-cake, seeing he had not even the wherewithal to
buy bread. Presently he came to the shop of the Kunafah-seller and
stood before it, whilst his eyes brimmed with tears. The
pastry-cook glanced at him and said, “O Master Ma’aruf,
why dost thou weep? Tell me what hath befallen thee.” So he
acquainted him with his case, saying, “My wife would have me
bring her a Kunafah; but I have sat in my shop till past mid-day
and have not gained even the price of bread; wherefore I am in fear
of her.” The cook laughed and said, “No harm shall come
to thee. How many pounds wilt thou have?” “Five
pounds,” answered Ma’aruf. So the man weighed him out
five pounds of vermicelli-cake and said to him, “I have
clarified butter, but no bees’ honey. Here is
drip-honey,7 however, which is better than bees’
honey; and what harm will there be, if it be with
drip-honey?” Ma’aruf was ashamed to object, because the
pastry-cook was to have patience with him for the price, and said,
“Give it me with drip-honey.” So he fried a
vermicelli-cake for him with butter and drenched it with
drip-honey, till it was fit to present to Kings. Then he asked him,
“Dost thou want bread8 and cheese?”; and Ma’aruf
answered, “Yes.” So he gave him four half dirhams worth
of bread and one of cheese, and the vermicelli was ten nusfs. Then
said he, “Know, O Ma’aruf, that thou owest me fifteen
nusfs; so go to thy wife and make merry and take this nusf for the
Hammam;9
and thou shalt have credit for a day or two or three till Allah
provide thee with thy daily bread. And straiten not thy wife, for I
will have patience with thee till such time as thou shalt have
dirhams to spare.” So Ma’aruf took the vermicelli-cake
and bread and cheese and went away, with a heart at ease, blessing
the pastry-cook and saying, “Extolled be Thy perfection, O my
Lord! How bountiful art Thou!” When he came home, his wife
enquired of him, “Hast thou brought the
vermicelli-cake?”; and, replying “Yes,” he set it
before her. She looked at it and seeing that it was dressed with
cane-honey,10 said to him, “Did I not bid thee
bring it with bees’ honey? Wilt thou contrary my wish and
have it dressed with cane-honey?” He excused himself to her,
saying, “I bought it not save on credit;” but said she,
“This talk is idle; I will not eat Kunafah save with
bees’ honey.” And she was wroth with it and threw it in
his face, saying, “Begone, thou pimp, and bring me other than
this !” Then she dealt him a buffet on the cheek and knocked
out one of his teeth. The blood ran down upon his breast and for
stress of anger he smote her on the head a single blow and a
slight; whereupon she clutched his beard and fell to shouting out
and saying, “Help, O Moslems!” So the neighbours came
in and freed his beard from her grip; then they reproved and
reproached her, saying, “We are all content to eat Kunafah
with cane-honey. Why, then, wilt thou oppress this poor man thus?
Verily, this is disgraceful in thee!” And they went on to
soothe her till they made peace between her and him. But, when the
folk were gone, she sware that she would not eat of the vermicelli,
and Ma’aruf, burning with hunger, said in himself, “She
sweareth that she will not eat; so I will e’en eat.”
Then he ate, and when she saw him eating, she said,
“Inshallah, may the eating of it be poison to destroy the far
one’s body.”11 Quoth he, “It shall not be at thy
bidding,” and went on eating, laughing and saying,
“Thou swarest that thou wouldst not eat of this; but Allah is
bountiful, and to-morrow night, an the Lord decree, I will bring
thee Kunafah dressed with bees’ honey, and thou shalt eat it
alone.” And he applied himself to appeasing her, whilst she
called down curses upon him; and she ceased not to rail at him and
revile him with gross abuse till the morning, when she bared her
forearm to beat him. Quoth he, “Give me time and I will bring
thee other vermicelli-cake.” Then he went out to the mosque
and prayed, after which he betook himself to his shop and opening
it, sat down; but hardly had he done this when up came two runners
from the Kazi’s court and said to him, “Up with thee,
speak with the Kazi, for thy wife hath complained of thee to him
and her favour is thus and thus.” He recognised her by their
description; and saying, “May Allah Almighty torment
her!” walked with them till he came to the Kazi’s
presence, where he found Fatimah standing with her arm bound up and
her face-veil besmeared with blood; and she was weeping and wiping
away her tears. Quoth the Kazi, “Ho man, hast thou no fear of
Allah the Most High? Why hast thou beaten this good woman and
broken her forearm and knocked out her tooth and entreated her
thus?” And quoth Ma’aruf, “If I beat her or put
out her tooth, sentence me to what thou wilt; but in truth the case
was thus and thus and the neighbours made peace between me and
her.” And he told him the story from first to last. Now this
Kazi was a benevolent man; so he brought out to him a quarter
dinar, saying, “O man, take this and get her Kunafah with
bees’ honey and do ye make peace, thou and she.” Quoth
Ma’aruf, “Give it to her.” So she took it and the
Kazi made peace between them, saying, “O wife, obey thy
husband; and thou, O man, deal kindly with her.12” Then they left
the court, reconciled at the Kazi’s hands, and the woman went
one way, whilst her husband returned by another way to his shop and
sat there, when, behold, the runners came up to him and said,
“Give us our fee.” Quoth he, “The Kazi took not
of me aught; on the contrary, he gave me a quarter dinar.”
But quoth they “’Tis no concern of ours whether the
Kazi took of thee or gave to thee, and if thou give us not our fee,
we will exact it in despite of thee.” And they fell to
dragging him about the market; so he sold his tools and gave them
half a dinar, whereupon they let him go and went away, whilst he
put his hand to his cheek and sat sorrowful, for that he had no
tools wherewith to work. Presently, up came two ill-favoured
fellows and said to him, “Come, O man, and speak with the
Kazi; for thy wife hath complained of thee to him.” Said he,
“He made peace between us just now.” But said they,
“We come from another Kazi, and thy wife hath complained of
thee to our Kazi.” So he arose and went with them to their
Kazi, calling on Allah for aid against her; and when he saw her, he
said to her, “Did we not make peace, good woman?”
Whereupon she cried, “There abideth no peace between me and
thee.” Accordingly he came forward and told the Kazi his
story, adding, “And indeed the Kazi Such-an-one made peace
between us this very hour.” Whereupon the Kazi said to her,
“O strumpet, since ye two have made peace with each other,
why comest thou to me complaining?” Quoth she, “He beat
me after that;” but quoth the Kazi, “Make peace each
with other, and beat her not again, and she will cross thee no
more.” So they made peace and the Kazi said to Ma’aruf,
“Give the runners their fee.” So he gave them their fee
and going back to his shop, opened it and sat down, as he were a
drunken man for excess of the chagrin which befel him. Presently,
while he was still sitting, behold, a man came up to him and said,
“O Ma’aruf, rise and hide thyself, for thy wife hath
complained of thee to the High Court13 and Abú Tabak 14 is after thee.” So
he shut his shop and fled towards the Gate of Victory.15 He had five
nusfs of silver left of the price of the lasts and gear; and
therewith he bought four worth of bread and one of cheese, as he
fled from her. Now it was the winter season and the hour of
mid-afternoon prayer; so, when he came out among the rubbish-mounds
the rain descended upon him, like water from the mouths of
water-skins, and his clothes were drenched. He therefore entered
the ‘Adiliyah,16 where he saw a ruined place and therein
a deserted cell without a door; and in it he took refuge and found
shelter from the rain. The tears streamed from his eyelids, and he
fell to complaining of what had betided him and saying,
“Whither shall I flee from this whore? I beseech Thee, O
Lord, to vouchsafe me one who shall conduct me to a far country,
where she shall not know the way to me!” Now while he sat
weeping, behold, the wall clave and there came forth to him
therefrom one of tall stature, whose aspect caused his body-pile to
bristle and his flesh to creep, and said to him, “O man, what
aileth thee that thou disturbest me this night? These two hundred
years have I dwelt here and have never seen any enter this place
and do as thou dost. Tell me what thou wishest and I will
accomplish thy need, as ruth for thee hath got hold upon my
heart.” Quoth Ma’aruf, “Who and what art
thou?”; and quoth he, “I am the Haunter17 of this
place.” So Ma’aruf told him all that had befallen him
with his wife and he said, “Wilt thou have me convey thee to
a country, where thy wife shall know no way to thee?”
“Yes,” said Ma’aruf; and the other, “Then
mount my back.” So he mounted on his back and he flew with
him from after supper-tide till daybreak, when he set him down on
the top of a high mountain—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

7 Arab. Asal Katr;
“a fine kind of black honey, treacle” says Lane; but it
is afterwards called cane-honey (‘Asal Kasab). I have never
heard it applied to “the syrup which exudes from ripe dates,
when hung up.”

8 Arab.
“‘Aysh,” lit.=that on which man lives:
“Khubz” being the more popular term. “Hubz and
Joobn” is well known at Malta.

9 Insinuating that
he had better make peace with his wife by knowing her carnally. It
suggests the story of the Irishman who brought over to the holy
Catholic Church three several Protestant wives, but failed with the
fourth on account of the decline of his
“Convarter.”

10 Arab.
“Asal Kasab,” i.e. Sugar, possibly made from
sorgho-stalks Holcus sorghum of which I made syrup in Central
Africa.

12 This is a true
picture of the leniency with which women were treated in the
Kazi’s court at Cairo; and the effect was simply deplorable.
I have noted that matters have grown even worse since the English
occupation, for history repeats herself; and the same was the case
in Afghanistan and in Sind. We govern too much in these matters,
which should be directed not changed, and too little in other
things, especially in exacting respect for the conquerors from the
conquered.

13 Arab. “Báb
al-’Áli”=the high gate or Sublime Porte; here used of
the Chief Kazi’s court: the phrase is a descendant of the
Coptic “Per-ao” whence “Pharaoh.”

14 “Abú
Tabak,” in Cairene slang, is an officer who arrests by order
of the Kazi and means “Father of whipping” (=tabaka, a
low word for beating, thrashing, whopping) because he does his duty
with all possible violence in terrorem.

16 This is a mosque
outside the great gate built by Al–Malik al-’Ádil Tuman
Bey in A.H. 906 (=1501). The date is not worthy of much remark for
these names are often inserted by the scribe—for which see
Terminal Essay.

17 Arab.
“’Ámir” lit.=one who inhabiteth, a peopler; here
used in technical sense. As has been seen, ruins and impure places
such as privies and Hammám-baths are the favourite homes of the
Jinn. The fire-drake in the text was summoned by the
Cobbler’s exclamation and even Marids at times do a kindly
action.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Marid
having taken up Ma’aruf the Cobbler, flew off with him and
set him down upon a high mountain and said to him, “O mortal,
descend this mountain and thou wilt see the gate of a city. Enter
it, for therein thy wife cannot come at thee.” He then left
him and went his way, whilst Ma’aruf abode in amazement and
perplexity till the sun rose, when he said to himself, “I
will up with me and go down into the city: indeed there is no
profit in my abiding upon this highland.” So he descended to
the mountain-foot and saw a city girt by towering walls, full of
lofty palaces and gold-adorned buildings which was a delight to
beholders. He entered in at the gate and found it a place such as
lightened the grieving heart; but, as he walked through the streets
the townsfolk stared at him as a curiosity and gathered about him,
marvelling at his dress, for it was unlike theirs. Presently, one
of them said to him, “O man, art thou a stranger?”
“Yes.” “What countryman art thou?” “I
am from the city of Cairo the Auspicious.” “And when
didst thou leave Cairo?” “I left it yesterday, at the
hour of afternoon-prayer.” Whereupon the man laughed at him
and cried out, saying, “Come look, O folk, at this man and
hear what he saith!” Quoth they, “What doeth he
say?”; and quoth the townsman, “He pretendeth that he
cometh from Cairo and left it yesterday at the hour of
afternoon-prayer!” At this they all laughed and gathering
round Ma’aruf, said to him, “O man, art thou mad to
talk thus? How canst thou pretend that thou leftest Cairo at
mid-afternoon yesterday and foundedst thyself this morning here,
when the truth is that between our city and Cairo lieth a full
year’s journey?” Quoth he, “None is mad but you.
As for me, I speak sooth, for here is bread which I brought with me
from Cairo, and see, ’tis yet new.” Then he showed them
the bread and they stared at it, for it was unlike their country
bread. So the crowd increased about him and they said to one
another, “This is Cairo bread: look at it;” and he
became a gazing-stock in the city and some believed him, whilst
others gave him the lie and made mock of him. Whilst this was going
on, behold, up came a merchant riding on a she-mule and followed by
two black slaves, and brake a way through the people, saying,
“O folk, are ye not ashamed to mob this stranger and make
mock of him and scoff at him?” And he went on to rate them,
till he drave them away from Ma’aruf, and none could make him
any answer. Then he said to the stranger, “Come, O my
brother, no harm shall betide thee from these folk. Verily they
have no shame.”18 So he took him and carrying him to a
spacious and richly-adorned house, seated him in a speak-room fit
for a King, whilst he gave an order to his slaves, who opened a
chest and brought out to him a dress such as might be worn by a
merchant worth a thousand.19 He clad him therewith and Ma’aruf,
being a seemly man, became as he were consul of the merchants. Then
his host called for food and they set before them a tray of all
manner exquisite viands. The twain ate and drank and the merchant
said to Ma’aruf, “O my brother, what is thy
name?” “My name is Ma’aruf and I am a cobbler by
trade and patch old shoes.” “What countryman art
thou?” “I am from Cairo.” “What
quarter?” “Dost thou know Cairo?” “I am of
its children.20 I come from the Red Street. 21”
“And whom dost thou know in the Red Street?” “I
know such an one and such an one,” answered Ma’aruf and
named several people to him. Quoth the other, “Knowest thou
Shaykh Ahmad the druggist?22” “He was my next neighbour,
wall to wall.” “Is he well?” “Yes.”
“How many sons hath he?” “Three, Mustafà,
Mohammed and Ali.” “And what hath Allah done with
them?” “As for Mustafà, he is well and he is a learned
man, a professor23: Mohammed is a druggist and opened him a
shop beside that of his father, after he had married, and his wife
hath borne him a son named Hasan.” “Allah gladden thee
with good news!” said the merchant; and Ma’aruf
continued, “As for Ali, he was my friend, when we were boys,
and we always played together, I and he. We used to go in the guise
of the children of the Nazarenes and enter the church and steal the
books of the Christians and sell them and buy food with the price.
It chanced once that the Nazarenes caught us with a book; whereupon
they complained of us to our folk and said to Ali’s
father:—An thou hinder not thy son from troubling us, we will
complain of thee to the King. So he appeased them and gave Ali a
thrashing; wherefore he ran away none knew whither and he hath now
been absent twenty years and no man hath brought news of
him.” Quoth the host, “I am that very Ali, son of
Shaykh Ahmad the druggist, and thou art my playmate
Ma’aruf.”24 So they saluted each other and after the
salam Ali said, “Tell me why, O Ma’aruf, thou camest
from Cairo to this city.” Then he told him all that had
befallen him of ill-doing with his wife Fatimah the Dung and said,
“So, when her annoy waxed on me, I fled from her towards the
Gate of Victory and went forth the city. Presently, the rain fell
heavy on me; so I entered a ruined cell in the Adiliyah and sat
there, weeping; whereupon there came forth to me the Haunter of the
place, which was an Ifrit of the Jinn, and questioned me. I
acquainted him with my case and he took me on his back and flew
with me all night between heaven and earth, till he set me down on
yonder mountain and gave me to know of this city. So I came down
from the mountain and entered the city, when people crowded about
me and questioned me. I told them that I had left Cairo yesterday,
but they believed me not, and presently thou camest up and driving
the folk away from me, carriedst me this house. Such, then, is the
cause of my quitting Cairo; and thou, what object brought thee
hither?” Quoth Ali, “The giddiness25 of folly turned my head
when I was seven years old, from which time I wandered from land to
land and city to city, till I came to this city, the name whereof
is Ikhtiyán al-Khatan.26 I found its people an hospitable folk
and a kindly, compassionate for the poor man and selling to him on
credit and believing all he said. So quoth I to them:—I am a
merchant and have preceded my packs and I need a place wherein to
bestow my baggage. And they believed me and assigned me a lodging.
Then quoth I to them:—Is there any of you will lend me a
thousand dinars, till my loads arrive, when I will repay it to him;
for I am in want of certain things before my goods come? They gave
me what I asked and I went to the merchants’ bazar, where,
seeing goods, I bought them and sold them next day at a profit of
fifty gold pieces and bought others.27 And I consorted with the folk and
entreated them liberally, so that they loved me, and I continued to
sell and buy, till I grew rich. Know, O my brother, that the
proverb saith, The world is show and trickery: and the land where
none wotteth thee, there do whatso liketh thee. Thou too, an thou
say to all who ask thee, I’m a cobbler by trade and poor
withal, and I fled from my wife and left Cairo yesterday, they will
not believe thee and thou wilt be a laughing-stock among them as
long as thou abidest in the city; whilst, an thou tell them, An
Ifrit brought me hither, they will take fright at thee and none
will come near thee; for they will say, This man is possessed of an
Ifrit and harm will betide whoso approacheth him. And such public
report will be dishonouring both to thee and to me, because they
ken I come from Cairo.” Ma’aruf asked:—“How
then shall I do?”; and Ali answered, “I will tell thee
how thou shalt do, Inshallah! To-morrow I will give thee a thousand
dinars and a she-mule to ride and a black slave, who shall walk
before thee and guide thee to the gate of the merchants’
bazar; and do thou go into them. I will be there sitting amongst
them, and when I see thee, I will rise to thee and salute thee with
the salam and kiss thy hand and make a great man of thee. Whenever
I ask thee of any kind of stuff, saying, Hast thou brought with
thee aught of such a kind? do thou answer, “Plenty.28” And if
they question me of thee, I will praise thee and magnify thee in
their eyes and say to them, Get him a store-house and a shop. I
also will give thee out for a man of great wealth and generosity;
and if a beggar come to thee, bestow upon him what thou mayst; so
will they put faith in what I say and believe in thy greatness and
generosity and love thee. Then will I invite thee to my house and
invite all the merchants on thy account and bring together thee and
them, so that all may know thee and thou know
them,”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

26 Here Trébutien
(iii. 265) reads “la ville de Khaïtan (so the Mac. Edit. iv.
708) capital du royaume de Sohatan.” Ikhtiyán Lane suggests
to be fictitious: Khatan is a district of Tartary east of Káshgar,
so called by Sádik al-Isfaháni p. 24.

27 This is a true
picture of the tact and savoir faire of the Cairenes. It was a
study to see how, under the late Khedive they managed to take
precedence of Europeans who found themselves in the background
before they knew it. For instance, every Bey, whose degree is that
of a Colonel was made an “Excellency” and ranked
accordingly at Court whilst his father, some poor Fellah, was
ploughing the ground. Tanfík Pasha began his ill-omened rule by
always placing natives close to him in the place of honour,
addressing them first and otherwise snubbing Europeans who, when
English, were often too obtuse to notice the petty insults lavished
upon them.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-second Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
merchant Ali said to Ma’aruf, “I will invite thee to my
house and invite all the merchants on thy account and bring
together thee and them, so that all may know thee and thou know
them, whereby thou shalt sell and buy and take and give with them;
nor will it be long ere thou become a man of money.”
Accordingly, on the morrow he gave him a thousand dinars and a suit
of clothes and a black slave and mounting him on a she-mule, said
to him, “Allah give thee quittance of responsibility for all
this,29
inasmuch as thou art my friend and it behoveth me to deal
generously with thee. Have no care; but put away from thee the
thought of thy wife’s misways and name her not to any.”
“Allah requite thee with good!” replied Ma’aruf
and rode on, preceded by his blackamoor till the slave brought him
to the gate of the merchants’ bazar, where they were all
seated, and amongst them Ali, who when he saw him, rose and threw
himself upon him, crying, “A blessed day, O Merchant
Ma’aruf, O man of good works and kindness30!” And he kissed
his hand before the merchants and said to them, “Our
brothers, ye are honoured by knowing31 the merchant Ma’aruf.”
So they saluted him, and Ali signed to them to make much of him,
wherefore he was magnified in their eyes. Then Ali helped him to
dismount from his she-mule and saluted him with the salam; after
which he took the merchants apart, one after other, and vaunted
Ma’aruf to them. They asked, “Is this man a
merchant?;” and he answered, “Yes; and indeed he is the
chiefest of merchants, there liveth not a wealthier than he; for
his wealth and the riches of his father and forefathers are famous
among the merchants of Cairo. He hath partners in Hind and Sind and
Al–Yaman and is high in repute for generosity. So know ye his
rank and exalt ye his degree and do him service, and wot also that
his coming to your city is not for the sake of traffic, and none
other save to divert himself with the sight of folk’s
countries: indeed, he hath no need of strangerhood for the sake of
gain and profit, having wealth that fires cannot consume, and I am
one of his servants.” And he ceased not to extol him, till
they set him above their heads and began to tell one another of his
qualities. Then they gathered round him and offered him
junkets32 and sherbets, and even the Consul of the
Merchants came to him and saluted him; whilst Ali proceeded to ask
him, in the presence of the traders, “O my lord, haply thou
hast brought with thee somewhat of such and such a stuff?”;
and Ma’aruf answered,“Plenty.” Now Ali had that
day shown him various kinds of costly clothes and had taught him
the names of the different stuffs, dear and cheap. Then said one of
the merchants, “O my lord, hast thou brought with thee yellow
broad cloth?”: and Ma’aruf said, “Plenty”!
Quoth another, “And gazelles’ blood red33?”; and
quoth the Cobbler, “Plenty”; and as often as he asked
him of aught, he made him the same answer. So the other said,
“O Merchant Ali had thy countryman a mind to transport a
thousand loads of costly stuffs, he could do so”; and Ali
said, “He would take them from a single one of his
store-houses, and miss naught thereof.” Now whilst they were
sitting, behold, up came a beggar and went the round of the
merchants. One gave him a half dirham and another a copper,34 but most of
them gave him nothing, till he came to Ma’aruf who pulled out
a handful of gold and gave it to him, whereupon he blessed him and
went his ways. The merchants marvelled at this and said,
“Verily, this is a King’s bestowal for he gave the
beggar gold without count, and were he not a man of vast wealth and
money without end, he had not given a beggar a handful of
gold.” After a while, there came to him a poor woman and he
gave her a handful of gold; whereupon she went away, blessing him,
and told the other beggars, who came to him, one after other, and
he gave them each a handful of gold, till he disbursed the thousand
dinars. Then he struck hand upon hand and said, “Allah is our
sufficient aid and excellent is the Agent!” Quoth the Consul,
“What aileth thee, O Merchant Ma’aruf?”; and
quoth he, “It seemeth that the most part of the people of
this city are poor and needy; had I known their misery I would have
brought with me a large sum of money in my saddle-bags and given
largesse thereof to the poor. I fear me I may be long
abroad35
and ’tis not in my nature to baulk a beggar; and I have no
gold left: so, if a pauper come to me, what shall I say to
him?” Quoth the Consul, “Say, Allah will send thee thy
daily bread36!”; but Ma’aruf replied,
“That is not my practice and I am care-ridden because of
this. Would I had other thousand dinars, wherewith to give alms
till my baggage come!” “Have no care for that,”
quoth the Consul and sending one of his dependents for a thousand
dinars, handed them to Ma’aruf, who went on giving them to
every beggar who passed till the call to noon-prayer. Then they
entered the Cathedral-mosque and prayed the noon-prayers, and what
was left him of the thousand gold pieces he scattered on the heads
of the worshippers. This drew the people’s attention to him
and they blessed him, whilst the merchants marvelled at the
abundance of his generosity and openhandedness. Then he turned to
another trader and borrowing of him other thousand ducats, gave
these also away, whilst Merchant Ali looked on at what he did, but
could not speak. He ceased not to do thus till the call to
mid-afternoon prayer, when he entered the mosque and prayed and
distributed the rest of the money. On this wise, by the time they
locked the doors of the bazar,37 he had borrowed five thousand sequins
and given them away, saying to every one of whom he took aught,
“Wait till my baggage come when, if thou desire gold I will
give thee gold, and if thou desire stuffs, thou shalt have stuffs;
for I have no end of them.” At eventide Merchant Ali invited
Ma’aruf and the rest of the traders to an entertainment and
seated him in the upper end, the place of honour, where he talked
of nothing but cloths and jewels, and whenever they made mention to
him of aught, he said, “I have plenty of it.” Next day,
he again repaired to the market-street where he showed a friendly
bias towards the merchants and borrowed of them more money, which
he distributed to the poor: nor did he leave doing thus twenty
days, till he had borrowed threescore thousand dinars, and still
there came no baggage, no, nor a burning plague.38 At last folk began to
clamour for their money and say, “The merchant
Ma’aruf’s baggage cometh not. How long will he take
people’s monies and give them to the poor?” And quoth
one of them, “My rede is that we speak to Merchant
Ali.” So they went to him and said, “O Merchant Ali,
Merchant Ma’aruf’s baggage cometh not.” Said he,
“Have patience, it cannot fail to come soon.” Then he
took Ma’aruf aside and said to him, “O Ma’aruf,
what fashion is this? Did I bid thee brown39 the bread or burn it? The
merchants clamour for their coin and tell me that thou owest them
sixty thousand dinars, which thou hast borrowed and given away to
the poor. How wilt thou satisfy the folk, seeing that thou neither
sellest nor buyest?” Said Ma’aruf, “What matters
it40;
and what are threescore thousand dinars? When my baggage shall
come, I will pay them in stuffs or in gold and silver, as they
will.” Quoth Merchant Ali, “Allah is Most Great! Hast
thou then any baggage?”; and he said, “Plenty.”
Cried the other, “Allah and the Hallows41 requite thee thine
impudence! Did I teach thee this saying, that thou shouldst repeat
it to me? But I will acquaint the folk with thee.”
Ma’aruf rejoined, “Begone and prate no more! Am I a
poor man? I have endless wealth in my baggage and as soon as it
cometh, they shall have their money’s worth two for one. I
have no need of them.” At this Merchant Ali waxed wroth and
said, “Unmannerly wight that thou art, I will teach thee to
lie to me and be not ashamed!” Said Ma’aruf,
“E’en work the worst thy hand can do! They must wait
till my baggage come, when they shall have their due and
more.” So Ali left him and went away, saying in himself,
“I praised him whilome and if I blame him now, I make myself
out a liar and become of those of whom it is said: — Whoso
praiseth and then blameth lieth twice.”42 And he knew not what to
do. Presently, the traders came to him and said, “O Merchant
Ali, hast thou spoken to him?” Said he, “O folk, I am
ashamed and, though he owe me a thousand dinars, I cannot speak to
him. When ye lent him your money ye consulted me not; so ye have no
claim on me. Dun him yourselves, and if he pay you not, complain of
him to the King of the city, saying:—He is an impostor who
hath imposed upon us. And he will deliver you from the plague of
him.” Accordingly, they repaired to the King and told him
what had passed, saying, “O King of the age, we are perplexed
anent this merchant, whose generosity is excessive; for he doeth
thus and thus, and all he borroweth, he giveth away to the poor by
handsful. Were he a man of naught, his sense would not suffer him
to lavish gold on this wise; and were he a man of wealth, his good
faith had been made manifest to us by the coming of his baggage;
but we see none of his luggage, although he avoucheth that he hath
baggage-train and hath preceded it. Now some time hath past, but
there appeareth no sign of his baggage-train, and he oweth us sixty
thousand gold pieces, all of which he hath given away in
alms.” And they went on to praise him and extol his
generosity. Now this King was a very covetous man, a more covetous
than Ash’ab43; and when he heard tell of
Ma’aruf’s generosity and openhandedness, greed of gain
got the better of him and he said to his Wazir, “Were not
this merchant a man of immense wealth, he had not shown all this
munificence. His baggage-train will assuredly come, whereupon these
merchants will flock to him and he will scatter amongst them riches
galore. Now I have more right to this money than they; wherefore I
have a mind to make friends with him and profess affection for him,
so that, when his baggage cometh whatso the merchants would have
had I shall get of him; and I will give him my daughter to wife and
join his wealth to my wealth.” Replied the Wazir, “O
King of the age, methinks he is naught but an impostor, and
’tis the impostor who ruineth the house of the
covetous;”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

29 i.e. “May
the Lord soon make thee able to repay me; but meanwhile I give it
to thee for thy own free use.”

30 Punning upon his
name. Much might be written upon the significance of names as
ominous of good and evil; but the subject is far too extensive for
a footnote.

31 Lane translates
“Ánisa-kum” by “he hath delighted you by his
arrival”; Mr. Payne “I commend him to you.”

32 Arab.
“Fatúrát,”=light food for the early breakfast of which
the “Fatírah”-cake was a favourite item. See vol. i.
300.

37 Each bazar, in a
large city like Damascus, has its tall and heavy wooden doors which
are locked every evening and opened in the morning by the Ghafir or
guard. The “silver key,” however, always lets one
in.

38 Arab. “Wa
lá Kabbata hámiyah,” a Cairene vulgarism meaning,
“There came nothing to profit him nor to rid the people of
him.”

40 It is insinuated
that he had lied till he himself believed the lie to be
truth—not an uncommon process, I may remark.

41 Arab.
“Rijál”=the Men, equivalent to the Walis, Saints or
Santons; with perhaps an allusion to the Rijál al-Ghayb, the
Invisible Controls concerning whom I have quoted Herklots in vol.
ii. 211.

42 A saying
attributed to Al–Hariri (Lane). It is good enough to be his:
the Persians say, “Cut not down the tree thou
plantedst,” and the idea is universal throughout the
East.

43 A quotation from
Al–Hariri (Ass. of the Badawin). Ash’ab (ob. A.H. 54),
a Medinite servant of Caliph Osman, was proverbial for greed and
sanguine, Micawber-like expectation of “windfalls.” The
Scholiast Al–Sharíshi (of Xeres) describes him in
Theophrastic style. He never saw a man put hand to pocket without
expecting a present, or a funeral go by without hoping for a
legacy, or a bridal procession without preparing his own house,

hoping they might bring the bride to him by mistake.

When
asked if he knew aught greedier than himself he said “Yes;
a
sheep I once kept upon my terrace-roof seeing a rainbow mistook
it for a rope of hay and jumping to seize it broke its
neck!”
Hence “Ash’ab’s sheep” became a by-word
(Preston tells the tale
in full, p. 288).

When it was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-third Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
the Wazir said to the King, “Methinks he is naught but an
impostor, and ’tis the impostor who ruineth the house of the
covetous;” the King said, “O Wazir, I will prove him
and soon know if he be an impostor or a true man and whether he be
a rearling of Fortune or not.” The Wazir asked, “And
how wilt thou prove him?”; and the King answered, “I
will send for him to the presence and entreat him with honour and
give him a jewel which I have. An he know it and wot its price, he
is a man of worth and wealth; but an he know it not, he is an
impostor and an upstart and I will do him die by the foulest
fashion of deaths.” So he sent for Ma’aruf, who came
and saluted him. The King returned his salam and seating him beside
himself, said to him, “Art thou the merchant
Ma’aruf?” and said he, “Yes.” Quoth the
King, “The merchants declare that thou owest them sixty
thousand ducats. Is this true?” “Yes,” quoth he.
Asked the King, “Then why dost thou not give them their
money?”; and he answered, “Let them wait till my
baggage come and I will repay them twofold. An they wish for gold,
they shall have gold; and should they wish for silver, they shall
have silver; or an they prefer for merchandise, I will give them
merchandise; and to whom I owe a thousand I will give two thousand
in requital of that wherewith he hath veiled my face before the
poor; for I have plenty.” Then said the King, “O
merchant, take this and look what is its kind and value.” And
he gave him a jewel the bigness of a hazel-nut, which he had bought
for a thousand sequins and not having its fellow, prized it highly.
Ma’aruf took it and pressing it between his thumb and
forefinger brake it, for it was brittle and would not brook the
squeeze. Quoth the King, “Why hast thou broken the
jewel?”; and Ma’aruf laughed and said, “O King of
the age, this is no jewel. This is but a bittock of mineral worth a
thousand dinars; why dost thou style it a jewel? A jewel I call
such as is worth threescore and ten thousand gold pieces and this
is called but a piece of stone. A jewel that is not of the bigness
of a walnut hath no worth in my eyes and I take no account thereof.
How cometh it, then, that thou, who art King, stylest this thing a
jewel, when ’tis but a bit of mineral worth a thousand
dinars? But ye are excusable, for that ye are poor folk and have
not in your possession things of price.” The King asked,
“O merchant, hast thou jewels such as those whereof thou
speakest?”; and he answered, “Plenty.” Whereupon
avarice overcame the King and he said, “Wilt thou give me
real jewels?” Said Ma’aruf, “When my
baggage-train shall come, I will give thee no end of jewels; and
all that thou canst desire I have in plenty and will give thee,
without price.” At this the King rejoiced and said to the
traders, “Wend your ways and have patience with him, till his
baggage arrive, when do ye come to me and receive your monies from
me.” So they fared forth and the King turned to his to his
Wazir and said to him, Pay court to Merchant Ma’aruf and take
and give with him in talk and bespeak him of my daughter, Princess
Dunyá, that he may wed her and so we gain these riches he
hath.” Said the Wazir, “O King of the age, this
man’s fashion misliketh me and methinks he is an impostor and
a liar: so leave this whereof thou speakest lest thou lose thy
daughter for naught.” Now this Minister had sued the King
aforetime to give him his daughter to wife and he was willing to do
so, but when she heard of it she consented not to marry him.
Accordingly, the King said to him, “O traitor, thou desirest
no good for me, because in past time thou soughtest my daughter in
wedlock, but she would none of thee; so now thou wouldst cut off
the way of her marriage and wouldst have the Princess lie fallow,
that thou mayst take her; but hear from me one word. Thou hast no
concern in this matter. How can he be an impostor and a liar,
seeing that he knew the price of the jewel, even that for which I
bought it, and brake it because it pleased him not? He hath jewels
in plenty, and when he goeth in to my daughter and seeth her to be
beautiful she will captivate his reason and he will love her and
give her jewels and things of price: but, as for thee, thou wouldst
forbid my daughter and myself these good things.” So the
Minister was silent, for fear of the King’s anger, and said
to himself, “Set the curs on the cattle44!” Then with show of
friendly bias he betook himself to Ma’aruf and said to him,
“His Highness the King loveth thee and hath a daughter, a
winsome lady and a lovesome, to whom he is minded to marry thee.
What sayst thou?” Said he, “No harm in that; but let
him wait till my baggage come, for marriage-settlements on
Kings’ daughters are large and their rank demandeth that they
be not endowed save with a dowry befitting their degree. At this
present I have no money with me till the coming of my baggage, for
I have wealth in plenty and needs must I make her marriage-portion
five thousand purses. Then I shall need a thousand purses to
distribute amongst the poor and needy on my wedding-night, and
other thousand to give to those who walk in the bridal procession
and yet other thousand wherewith to provide provaunt for the troops
and others45; and I shall want an hundred jewels to
give to the Princess on the wedding-morning46 and other hundred gems to
distribute among the slavegirls and eunuchs, for I must give each
of them a jewel in honour of the bride; and I need wherewithal to
clothe a thousand naked paupers, and alms too needs must be given.
All this cannot be done till my baggage come; but I have plenty
and, once it is here, I shall make no account of all this
outlay.” The Wazir returned to the King and told him what
Ma’aruf said, whereupon quoth he, “Since this is his
wish, how canst thou style him impostor and liar?” Replied
the Minister, “And I cease not to say this.” But the
King chid him angrily and threatened him, saying, “By the
life of my head, an thou cease not this talk, I will slay thee! Go
back to him and fetch him to me and I will manage matters with him
myself.” So the Wazir returned to Ma’aruf and said to
him, “Come and speak with the King.” “I hear and
I obey,” said Ma’aruf and went in to the King, who said
to him, “Thou shalt not put me off with these excuses, for my
treasury is full; so take the keys and spend all thou needest and
give what thou wilt and clothe the poor and do thy desire and have
no care for the girl and the handmaids. When the baggage shall
come, do what thou wilt with thy wife, by way of generosity, and we
will have patience with thee anent the marriage-portion till then,
for there is no manner of difference betwixt me and thee; none at
all.” Then he sent for the Shaykh Al–Islam47 and bade him
write out the marriage-contract between his daughter and Merchant
Ma’aruf, and he did so; after which the King gave the signal
for beginning the wedding festivities and bade decorate the city.
The kettle drums beat and the tables were spread with meats of all
kinds and there came performers who paraded their tricks. Merchant
Ma’aruf sat upon a throne in a parlour and the players and
gymnasts and effeminates48 and dancing-men of wondrous movements
and posture-makers of marvellous cunning came before him, whilst he
called out to the treasurer and said to him, “Bring gold and
silver.” So he brought gold and silver and Ma’aruf went
round among the spectators and largessed each performer by the
handful; and he gave alms to the poor and needy and clothes to the
naked and it was a clamorous festival and a right merry. The
treasurer could not bring money fast enough from the treasury, and
the Wazir’s heart was like to burst for rage; but he dared
not say a word, whilst Merchant Ali marvelled at this waste of
wealth and said to Merchant Ma’aruf, “Allah and the
Hallows visit this upon on thy head-sides49! Doth it not suffice thee
to squander the traders’ money, but thou must squander that
of the King to boot?” Replied Ma’aruf,
“’Tis none of thy concern: whenas my baggage shall
come, I will requite the King manifold.” And he went on
lavishing money and saying in himself, “A burning plague!
What will happen will happen and there is no flying from that which
is fore-ordained.” The festivities ceased not for the space
of forty days, and on the one-and-fortieth day, they made the
bride’s cortège and all the Emirs and troops walked before
her. When they brought her in before Ma’aruf, he began
scattering gold on the people’s heads, and they made her a
mighty fine procession, whilst Ma’aruf expended in her honour
vast sums of money. Then they brought him in to Princess Dunya and
he sat down on the high divan; after which they let fall the
curtains and shut the doors and withdrew, leaving him alone with
his bride; whereupon he smote hand upon hand and sat awhile
sorrowful and saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Quoth the
Princess, “O my lord, Allah preserve thee! What aileth thee
that thou art troubled?” Quoth he, “And how should I be
other than troubled, seeing that thy father hath embarrassed me and
done with me a deed which is like the burning of green corn?”
She asked, “And what hath my father done with thee? Tell
me!”; and he answered, “He hath brought me in to thee
before the coming of my baggage, and I want at very least an
hundred jewels to distribute among thy handmaids, to each a jewel,
so she might rejoice therein and say, My lord gave me a jewel on
the night of his going in to my lady. This good deed would I have
done in honour of thy station and for the increase of thy dignity;
and I have no need to stint myself in lavishing jewels, for I have
of them great plenty.” Rejoined she, “Be not concerned
for that. As for me, trouble not thyself about me, for I will have
patience with thee till thy baggage shall come, and as for my women
have no care for them. Rise, doff thy clothes and take thy
pleasure; and when the baggage cometh we shall get the jewels and
the rest.” So he arose and putting off his clothes sat down
on the bed and sought love-liesse and they fell to toying with each
other. He laid his hand on her knee and she sat down in his lap and
thrust her lip like a tit-bit of meat into his mouth, and that hour
was such as maketh a man to forget his father and his mother. So he
clasped her in his arms and strained her fast to his breast and
sucked her lip, till the honey-dew ran out into his mouth; and he
laid his hand under her left-armpit, whereupon his vitals and her
vitals yearned for coition. Then he clapped her between the breasts
and his hand slipped down between her thighs and she girded him
with her legs, whereupon he made of the two parts proof amain and
crying out, “O sire of the chin-veils twain50!” applied the
priming and kindled the match and set it to the touch-hole and gave
fire and breached the citadel in its four corners; so there befel
the mystery51 concerning which there is no enquiry:
and she cried the cry that needs must be cried.52—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it Was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-fourth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that while
the Princess Dunyá cried the cry which must be cried, Merchant
Ma’aruf abated her maidenhead and that night was one not to
be counted among lives for that which it comprised of the enjoyment
of the fair, clipping and dallying langue fourrée and futtering
till the dawn of day, when he arose and entered the Hammam whence,
after donning a suit for sovrans suitable he betook himself to the
King’s Divan. All who were there rose to him and received him
with honour and worship, giving him joy and invoking blessings upon
him; and he sat down by the King’s side and asked,
“Where is the treasurer?” They answered, “Here he
is, before thee,” and he said to him, “Bring robes of
honour for all the Wazirs and Emirs and dignitaries and clothe the
therewith.” The treasurer brought him all he sought and he
sat giving to all who came to him and lavishing largesse upon every
man according to his station. On this wise he abode twenty days,
whilst no baggage appeared for him nor aught else, till the
treasurer was straitened by him to the uttermost and going in to
the King, as he sat alone with the Wazir in Ma’aruf’s
absence, kissed ground between his hands and said, “O King of
the age, I must tell thee somewhat, lest haply thou blame me for
not acquainting thee therewith. Know that the treasury is being
exhausted; there is none but a little money left in it and in ten
days more we shall shut it upon emptiness.” Quoth the King,
“O Wazir, verily my son-in-law’s baggage-train tarrieth
long and there appeareth no news thereof.” The Minister
laughed and said , Allah be gracious to thee, O King of the age!
Thou art none other but heedless with respect to this impostor,
this liar. As thy head liveth, there is no baggage for him, no, nor
a burning plague to rid us of him! Nay, he hath but imposed on thee
without surcease, so that he hath wasted thy treasures and married
thy daughter for naught. How long therefore wilt thou be heedless
of this liar?” Then quoth the King, “O Wazir, how shall
we do to learn the truth of his case?”; and quoth the Wazir,
“O King of the age, none may come at a man’s secret but
his wife; so send for thy daughter and let her come behind the
curtain, that I may question her of the truth of his estate, to the
intent that she may make question of him and acquaint us with his
case.” Cried the King, “There is no harm in that; and
as my head liveth, if it be proved that he is a liar and an
impostor, I will verily do him die by the foulest of deaths!”
Then he carried the Wazir into the sitting-chamber and sent for his
daughter, who came behind the curtain, her husband being absent,
and said, “What wouldst thou, O my father?” Said he
“Speak with the Wazir.” So she asked, “Ho thou,
the Wazir, what is thy will?”; and he answered, “O my
lady, thou must know that thy husband hath squandered thy
father’s substance and married thee without a dower; and he
ceaseth not to promise us and break his promises, nor cometh there
any tidings of his baggage; in short we would have thee inform us
concerning him.” Quoth she, “Indeed his words be many,
and he still cometh and promiseth me jewels and treasures and
costly stuffs; but I see nothing.” Quoth the Wazir, “O
my lady, canst thou this night take and give with him in talk and
whisper to him:—Say me sooth and fear from me naught, for
thou art become my husband and I will not transgress against thee.
So tell me the truth of the matter and I will devise thee a device
whereby thou shalt be set at rest. And do thou play near and
far53
with him in words and profess love to him and win him to confess
and after tell us the facts of his case.” And she answered,
“O my papa, I know how I will make proof of him.” Then
she went away and after supper her husband came in to her,
according to his wont, whereupon Princess Dunya rose to him and
took him under the armpit and wheedled him with winsomest wheedling
(and all-sufficient54 are woman’s wiles whenas she would
aught of men); and she ceased not to caress him and beguile him
with speech sweeter than the honey till she stole his reason; and
when she saw that he altogether inclined to her, she said to him,
“O my beloved, O coolth of my eyes and fruit of my vitals,
Allah never desolate me by less of thee nor Time sunder us twain me
and thee! Indeed, the love of thee hath homed in my heart and the
fire of passion hath consumed my liver, nor will I ever forsake
thee or transgress against thee. But I would have thee tell me the
truth, for that the sleights of falsehood profit not, nor do they
secure credit at all seasons. How long wilt thou impose upon my
father and lie to him? I fear lest thine affair be discovered to
him, ere we can devise some device and he lay violent hands upon
thee? So acquaint me with the facts of the case for naught shall
befal thee save that which shall begladden thee; and, when thou
shalt have spoken sooth, fear not harm shall betide thee. How often
wilt thou declare that thou art a merchant a man of money and hast
a luggage-train? This long while past thou sayest, My baggage! my
baggage! but there appeareth no sign of thy baggage, and visible in
thy face is anxiety on this account. So an there be no worth in thy
words, tell me and I will contrive thee a contrivance whereby by
thou shalt come off safe, Inshallah!” He replied, “I
will tell thee the truth, and then do thou whatso thou wilt.”
Rejoined she, “Speak and look thou speak soothly; for sooth
is the ark of safety, and beware of lying, for it dishonoureth the
liar and God-gifted is he who said:—

‘Ware that truth thou speak, albe sooth when said
Shall cause
thee in threatenèd fire to fall:
And seek Allah’s approof, for most foolish he
Who shall anger
his Lord to make friends with thrall.”

He said, “Know, then, O my lady, that I am no merchant and
have no baggage, no, nor a burning plague; nay, I was but a cobbler
in my own country and had a wife called Fatimah the Dung, with whom
there befel me this and that.” And he told her his story from
beginning to end; whereat she laughed and said, “Verily, thou
art clever in the practice of lying and imposture!” Whereto
he answered, “O my lady, may Allah Almighty preserve thee to
veil sins and countervail chagrins!” Rejoined she,
“Know, that thou imposedst upon my sire and deceivedst him by
dint of thy deluding vaunts, so that of his greed for gain he
married me to thee. Then thou squanderedst his wealth and the Wazir
beareth thee a grudge for this. How many a time hath he spoken
against thee to my father, saying, Indeed, he is an impostor, a
liar! But my sire hearkened not to his say, for that he had sought
me in wedlock and I consented not that he be baron and I femme.
However, the time grew longsome upon my sire and he became
straitened and said to me, Make him confess. So I have made thee
confess and that which was covered is discovered. Now my father
purposeth thee a mischief because of this; but thou art become my
husband and I will never transgress against thee. An I told my
father what I have learnt from thee, he would be certified of thy
falsehood and imposture and that thou imposest upon Kings’
daughters and squanderest royal wealth: so would thine offence find
with him no pardon and he would slay thee sans a doubt: wherefore
it would be bruited among the folk that I married a man who was a
liar, an impostor, and this would smirch mine honour. Furthermore
an he kill thee, most like he will require me to wed another, and
to such thing I will never consent; no, not though I die!55 So rise now
and don a Mameluke’s dress and take these fifty thousand
dinars of my monies, and mount a swift steed and get thee to a land
whither the rule of my father doth not reach. Then make thee a
merchant and send me a letter by a courier who shall bring it
privily to me, that I may know in what land thou art, so I may send
thee all my hand can attain. Thus shall thy wealth wax great and if
my father die, I will send for thee, and thou shalt return in
respect and honour; and if we die, thou or I and go to the mercy of
God the Most Great, the Resurrection shall unite us. This, then, is
the rede that is right: and while we both abide alive and well, I
will not cease to send thee letters and monies. Arise ere the day
wax bright and thou be in perplexed plight and perdition upon thy
head alight!” Quoth he, “O my lady, I beseech thee of
thy favour to bid me farewell with thine embracement;” and
quoth she, “No harm in that.”56 So he embraced her and
knew her carnally; after which he made the Ghusl-ablution; then,
donning the dress of a white slave, he bade the syces saddle him a
thoroughbred steed. Accordingly, they saddled him a courser and he
mounted and farewelling his wife, rode forth the city at the last
of the night, whilst all who saw him deemed him one of the
Mamelukes of the Sultan going abroad on some business. Next
morning, the King and his Wazir repaired to the sitting-chamber and
sent for Princess Dunya who came behind the curtain; and her father
said to her, “O my daughter, what sayst thou?” Said
she, “I say, Allah blacken thy Wazir’s face, because he
would have blackened my face in my husband’s eyes!”
Asked the King, “How so?”; and she answered, “He
came in to me yesterday; but, before I could name the matter to
him, behold, in walked Faraj the Chief Eunuch, letter in hand, and
said:—Ten white slaves stand under the palace window and have
this letter, saying:—Kiss for us the hands of our lord,
Merchant Ma’aruf, and give him this letter, for we are of his
Mamelukes with the baggage, and it hath reached us that he hath
wedded the King’s daughter, so we are come to acquaint him
with that which befel us by the way. Accordingly I took the letter
and read as follows:—From the five hundred Mamelukes to his
highness our lord Merchant Ma’aruf. But further. We give thee
to know that, after thou quittedst us, the Arabs57 came out upon us and
attacked us. They were two thousand horse and we five hundred
mounted slaves and there befel a mighty sore fight between us and
them. They hindered us from the road thirty days doing battle with
them and this is the cause of our tarrying from
thee.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

48 Arab.
“Al–Jink” (from Turk.) are boys and youths mostly
Jews, Armenians, Greeks and Turks, who dress in woman’s dress
with long hair braided. Lane (M. E. chapts. xix. and xxv.) gives
same account of the customs of the “Gink” (as the
Egyptians call them) but cannot enter into details concerning these
catamites. Respectable Moslems often employ them to dance at
festivals in preference to the Ghawázi-women, a freak of Mohammedan
decorum. When they grow old they often preserve their costume, and
a glance at them makes a European’s blood run cold.

50 Arab. “Yá
aba ‘l-lithámayn,” addressed to his member. Lathm the
root means kissing or breaking; so he would say, “O thou who
canst take her maidenhead whilst my tongue does away with the
virginity of her mouth.” “He breached the
citadel” (which is usually square) “in its four
corners” signifying that he utterly broke it down.